Mediterranean Quinoa Salad with Arugula, Avocado and Lemon Oregano Olive oil dressing. Lemon Garlic Dressing brightens up this Summery Quinoa Salad. Perfect to make ahead and serve at Picnics. Vegan Gluten-free, Nut-free Soy-free Recipe.
This Salad hits all the Summery notes. Crisp Arugula, juicy Cherry tomatoes, Avocado, fluffy Quinoa all dressed in a refreshing Lemon Garlic olive oil dressing. Simple ingredients, incredible together.
The salad comes together quickly and also stays crisp for upto 4 days. For longer life, keep the dressing separate. Add other ingredients such as chickpeas or toasted nuts to make into a meal, cucumber, zucchini, other greems for variation.
The Dressing is inspired by the dressing on the salads and sandwiches I have eaten over the years at Mediterranean joints. I also use it on my Avocado Pear Bagel. Its perfect on many veggies and fruits.
More Salads from the blog
- Crunchy Vegan Asian Salad With Baked Tofu & Garlic Soy Maple Dressing GF – This baked tofu is perfect on many salads
- Curried Sweet Potato Lentil Salad GF. A favorite
- Chopped cucumber Onion tomato Salad- Kachumber Salad GF Light
- Firecracker Chickpea Salad with Thai peanut dressing GF So filling
- Southwestern Pasta Black Bean Salad. a Picnic staple
Make this Salad your own! Let me know how it turned out.
Mediterranean Quinoa Salad with Arugula, Avocado
Ingredients
Dressing:
- 1 large clove garlic pressed or minced
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) or more black pepper
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) dried oregano or parsley
- 3 tbsp really good extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp or more lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) salt
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) maple or sugar optional
Salad:
- 1/2 cup (85 g) uncooked quinoa or use 1 1/2 cups cooked fluffed quinoa
- 3 to 4 oz (2 to 4 oz) baby arugula
- 1 cup (5.26 oz) cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 ripe avocado cubed small
- salt black pepper
Other additions for variation:
- Cucumber sliced or chopped ,sliced kalamata olives, Pear, chopped, Cooked Chickpeas, toasted nuts(pine, cashews) or toasted sunflower seeds
Instructions
- Make the dressing by mixing everything vigorously. in a bowl and set aside.
- Cook the quinoa: Rinse the 1/2 cup quinoa really well then combine in a saucepan with 1 1/4 cup of water, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp dried oregano. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Once boiling, lower the heat to low, cover and cook for 13 to 15 mins. Let it sit covered for another 5 mins, then fluff and use.
- Assemble the salad: In a large bowl, add the cooled quinoa, arugula, and cherry tomatoes and mix with dressing. Add the avocado and lightly toss. Add salt and pepper. Taste and adjust the overall flavor by adding more salt, lemon or pepper. I generally add a good dash of freshly ground black pepper. Serve or Store refrigerated for upto 4 days
- To make ahead: Keep the dressing separate, toss when ready to serve.
Nutrition
Emily says
June 19, 2017 at 11:04 pmWe added some chickpeas and made this into a Summer Meal. The Dressing is amazing!
Richa says
June 20, 2017 at 11:05 amAwesome!
Rita says
June 20, 2017 at 12:56 pmDear Richa,
Many Thanks for the wonderful recipes.
I am seriously considering going vegan..although at present am total vegetarian no eggs etc. i do have dairy products and would like to give these up as well.
There are not many places here in Centurion, South Africa that sell vegan products. at least I don’t know of them yet.
Any advise about how to go about it will be most highly appreciated.
Thank you and God bless.
I love cheese and paneer etc.. how do we substitute them, is there a certain brand I should be looking out for?
Richa says
June 21, 2017 at 4:11 pmHi Rita, That is great that you are thinking of transitioning. Maybe take each recipe or item at a time and find a substitute for it, or find a recipe to make it from scratch. So for eg, for cheesy sauces like in mac and cheese, you can look for vegan mac cheese options in stores or use the mac and cheese recipes on the blog to make the sauce that you like. I use cashews to make the sauce. http://www.veganricha.com/?s=mac+cheese
For other things such as paneer, you can substitute firm tofu or make your own. i have an almond based paneer recipe in my first book. sometimes i also use kite hill brand original almond cheese as a substitute. Hope this helps!
Sher Schwartz says
June 21, 2017 at 10:38 amSo, we have 5 musicians staying with us, and I made this said last night for the group. I added kalamata olives and fresh orange mint and oregano from my herb garden. I made the dressing 3 hours early and left the dressing in the fridge to meld the flavors. I used red quinoa. The arugula is essential, over regular greens, in my mind because it provides that nice bite alongside the quinoa. I think this dish would be wonderful with chickpeas. I also served this with asiago artisan bread. We are not vegan, but I make many vegan meals and am moving more and more in that direction.
Richa says
June 21, 2017 at 12:52 pmThats amazing! Yes, i love Arugula in this, but many people dont 🙂 With chickpeas, double the dressing and use more of it so the chickpeas can pick up some flavor. I usually spice up the chickpeas with my shawarma spice blend.
Lindsay says
June 22, 2017 at 11:16 amI made this Tuesday night. Topped it with some toasted pine nuts. Delicious, fast and easy for a great week night meal! We love your recipes Richa!
Richa says
July 17, 2017 at 10:02 pmPerfect!
Jennifer says
July 16, 2017 at 9:22 pmI have made this dish twice now, and it is delicious – especially good for dinner on hot summer nights!
Richa says
July 17, 2017 at 10:01 pmAwesome!
Sierra says
December 18, 2017 at 10:10 amAbsolutely love this recipe! It is a favorite of mine for meal prepping and one that I rarely get tired of. I definitely enjoy adding cucumber as recommended. 🙂
Richa says
December 18, 2017 at 10:16 amAwesome!